West Islip to Close Kirdahy, Westbrook Elementary Schools

Cathy wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes I am.....I don't agree with every decision that Gellar made, but I think he was very clear and concise with his reasoning. Montes on the other hand was quite evasive in his answers. I will be supporting Gellar, he was by far the most impressive candidate in the room last night.

And Mr. Gellar would be the very first one to tell you how impressed you should be with him. If you listened to what Steve Gellar SAID last night, the district is wonderful---because of him. The gazillion dollar deficit is gone---because of him. Capital bonds? What capital bonds, the capital improvements are because (you guessed it)----of him.
The state aid $ WI got back---it's because of him. That sunny day last week----yup, because of him.
Please Cathy, by all means vote for Gellar. After last night, that vote he casts for himself will be lonely.

Congratulations to Mr. Gellar for knowing the issues--He Created Them!!!

Well versed-Mr. Gellar is a politician. Politician is not what a oommunity needs-politicians play both ends to the middle and the middle gets crushed.

Guess what the crushing played to the middle politics of Mr. Gellar were successful-He succesfully crushed the students of this community.

He did it by playing years of adminstration,union compromise and spending -against high tax increases and voting in budgets filled with empty promises to the community- end result the crushing of over 500 students into 4 ES buildings, beginnings of program loss and a mounting debt to owed back staff increases.

Mr. Montes-not a politician- a community member, willing to step into a situation that would be over the heads of any community member compliments of Mr. Gellars politics. However he is willing to try to do it to represent the students and community members. What the community needs are community members not politicians to represent the needs of the community!

Mr. Zotto's presentation- again a rock and a hard place. He is in a situation where there are no right answers, because to honestly answer public inquiries would mean turning on the present board, it would mean making the community undeniably certain that Mr. Gellar is not the man to represent the community. It would also risk Mr. Gellars 'friends' from little league, associates through the 'summit coalition' and 'business interests' of his VP's on the chamber of commerce getting him voted back into office despite the damage he has done. It potentially means Mr. Zotto having to face another 3 years sitting on a board with a powerful board member whom he would have revealed to be poison.

Mr. O'Connor- Advantage associate of all of the above which is damaging to Mr. Zotto. He is being mentored and trained by the present "BOE BLOCK". He was their choice of candidate last year against Mr. Maginnis (thankfully he lost). He is being brought back in again by Mr. Gellar and all of the above associations to get a seat on the board.

Big, Big, mistake people to let Mr. O'Connor the seat the big "3" have warmed for him.

Mr. Maginnis is an independent who won 'his'way onto the board.His largest representation is Special Education. His biggest concern and what he's brought to the community was truly about children. If Mr. Zotto stays and Mr. Montes joins
there are 3 votes of hope against the shrinking block of control now on the board.

That would be progress for the community. That would finally be the community Not politics.

Mr. Montes and Mr. Zotto to serve the community and stop politics in West Islip.

mr jc wrote:

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Please enlighten us on some more of the 'movable parts' of the budget.

If you missed all the previous budget worksessions, BOE meetings or any BAC sesssions, there's another tonight.

The WEST ISLIP UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S Board of Education has scheduled the following meetings for the purpose of discussing the
2012-2013 budget.
DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 – Budget Worksession
TIME: 7:30 PM – Beach Street Cafeteria (Planning Session to follow)

DATE: Thursday, March 15, 2012 – Budget Worksession
TIME: 7:30 PM – Beach Street Cafeteria

DATE: Thursday, March 22, 2012 – Budget Worksession
TIME: 7:30 PM – Beach Street Cafeteria (Planning Session to follow)

DATE: Thursday, March 29, 2012 – Budget Worksession
TIME: 7:30 PM – Beach Street Cafeteria

DATE: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 – Budget Worksession
TIME: 7:30 PM – Beach Street Cafeteria

DATE: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – Public Budget Hearing and Board Meeting and
final Voter Registration (2:00 – 8:00 PM)
TIME: 7:00 PM – High School

It's crystal clear that the handful of folks who post here daily will not be voting for Gellar. And that's fine as everyone is entitled to their own opinion and their own vote. However, it is also crystal clear to me after last night that Montes is not right for the job. You can all attack me for having an opinion but if you were there last night you would agree Montes just doesn't have what it takes. Again.... MY OPINION!

No Good Deed wrote:

Recap of last night:
Gellar, well spoken, educated on the issues.
Montes, in over his head, not educated on the issues and clearly lacks understanding to the limitations to the solutions, under current law. Really?? Glenn Montes is going to "overturn" the Triborough Amendment?(and that is a direct quote) In addition, he had not a clue to address the second question asked of the night when one of the other candidates didn't precede him.
O'Connor, my favorite for the night. Here is someone who spoke clearly, understood ALL of the issues, the limitations of execution, understood the need for extracurricular activities, understood teacher evaluations and the need for parent's input etc.
Zotto, was a bumbling idiot who can't string a complete sentence together. In one breath he's defending his and the boards actions in the next he's contradicting his own statements. When put on the spot, he would not own up to voting to close two ES. I wouldn't vote for him if he was the only candidate.

That was "Debra's" recap of last night. here's a couple of corrections to her untruthful, biased view:
Not only didn't I hear the "quote" you spoke of Montes stating he was going to overturn the triborough agreement, but when I listened to the recording of the evening's event there was no such statement from Montes or any other candidate. Lie much?

Why did Steve Gellar KNOW what the first 8 questions were going to be?
Why was Steve Gellar READING his answers off of paper in front of him?
Yes, Steve Gellar had scripted answers already written down to the 'random' questions. Wow what honesty, what character, what a charade. What a BAD CHOICE for WI's future. Vote out Steve Gellar, we've had enough crooked antics, haven't we?

Parents United wrote:

<quoted text>
And Mr. Gellar would be the very first one to tell you how impressed you should be with him. If you listened to what Steve Gellar SAID last night, the district is wonderful---because of him. The gazillion dollar deficit is gone---because of him. Capital bonds? What capital bonds, the capital improvements are because (you guessed it)----of him.
The state aid $ WI got back---it's because of him. That sunny day last week----yup, because of him.
Please Cathy, by all means vote for Gellar. After last night, that vote he casts for himself will be lonely.

I'm not surprised that Gellar was comfortable on his own turf. He should be, he did get on the BOE in 2006, he wasn't the most confident speaker then at all.
http://westislip.patch.com/articles/board-of-...
Well if anything, he certainly succeeded in keeping West Islip the forgotten Hamlet.
"What I'm really after is for the West Islip schools to be a leader, to keep pushing," he said.

Gellar is pushing hard not just for the West Islip Board of Education, but for the community itself. "West Islip is sort of the forgotten hamlet in the Town of Islip. We got to a point where we needed help. The other towns get quite a bit more help and attention than West Islip does," he said."

Yikes! His kind of help we don't need. Oh and thanks for adding the IB program too Steve, we have an outstanding AP program, recognized by college board, our students do receive AP awards and honors, but what's more interesting is how there is no mention of any students actually receiving an IB diploma. Let's just keep spending more money on the pet programs and visions that YOU ARE REALLY AFTER!

parent and taxpayer wrote:

<quoted text>
If you missed all the previous budget worksessions, BOE meetings or any BAC sesssions, there's another tonight.
The WEST ISLIP UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S Board of Education has scheduled the following meetings for the purpose of discussing the
2012-2013 budget.

Oh, so one of your 'movable parts' of the budget would be like getting an estimate for a new vehicle for the buildings and grounds dept and then....
BING, BANG, BOOM!!!
When it comes time to purchase the vehicle that "estimate" for one vehicle suddenly, magically becomes enough money to buy not one, not two but THREE NEW VEHICLES! Yes, quite a moving part indeed! Is this that "Gellar-nomics" the boe is always talking about?

Parents United wrote:

<quoted text>
That was "Debra's" recap of last night. here's a couple of corrections to her untruthful, biased view:
Not only didn't I hear the "quote" you spoke of Montes stating he was going to overturn the triborough agreement, but when I listened to the recording of the evening's event there was no such statement from Montes or any other candidate. Lie much?
Why did Steve Gellar KNOW what the first 8 questions were going to be?
Why was Steve Gellar READING his answers off of paper in front of him?
Yes, Steve Gellar had scripted answers already written down to the 'random' questions. Wow what honesty, what character, what a charade. What a BAD CHOICE for WI's future. Vote out Steve Gellar, we've had enough crooked antics, haven't we?

Thanks Wendy as we all know where you stand on your feelings for Gellar we can understand that you are not biased in your views. Here is some things to chew on regarding Montes:
He said he's not worried about his own time although he wrote all year that he doesn't attend meetings because he doesn't have enough time.
He said he supports extracurricular activities although he has said that he wants to cut middle school sports.
He said he still thinks we should have closed a middle school, which would have cut middle school sports and clubs in half.
He spoke about things that go on at meetings although he doesn't attend meetings.
He said he won't raise class sizes although he has written that he doesn't mind raising class sizes.
He said he won't cut program but he has written that we should cut music and art.
He said that Special Ed is a burden.
He said he would never vote to pierce the tax cap, which could contradict everything he said about not raising class sizes and cutting program.
He said he would never vote to pierce the cap which shows a complete lack of objectivity.

Parents United wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh, so one of your 'movable parts' of the budget would be like getting an estimate for a new vehicle for the buildings and grounds dept and then....
BING, BANG, BOOM!!!
When it comes time to purchase the vehicle that "estimate" for one vehicle suddenly, magically becomes enough money to buy not one, not two but THREE NEW VEHICLES! Yes, quite a moving part indeed! Is this that "Gellar-nomics" the boe is always talking about?

Those questions/points you have should be raised in the sessions so they can be answered. Raising any issues here doesn't add value and indicates you'd rather not deal with facts and details.'These sound bites' are not the basis for a good long term plan.

Was Special Ed mentioned at all last nite. No opinions needed just the facts. Was the issued raised at all?

I just wish that there would be more meet the candidate nights for those of us who were unable to attend. Many people were unable to attend this meeting.

It is no secret I am not Gellar's biggest fan, but I'd like to make an educated decision on this and the only way that you can do that is to see these people in person and watch them answer questions.

If they want to be fair, they will schedule a few more of these meet the candidate nights so that as many voters as possible have the opportunity to interact with the candidates and see what they are really about.

Cathy wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes I am.....I don't agree with every decision that Gellar made, but I think he was very clear and concise with his reasoning. Montes on the other hand was quite evasive in his answers. I will be supporting Gellar, he was by far the most impressive candidate in the room last night.

Mr. Gellar is indeed an impressive speaker but unfortunately his bad decisions for our ES children and our district speaks for itself. Our children can't take another 3 years of Steve Gellar.

Walk the Walk wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks Wendy as we all know where you stand on your feelings for Gellar we can understand that you are not biased in your views. Here is some things to chew on regarding Montes:
He said he's not worried about his own time although he wrote all year that he doesn't attend meetings because he doesn't have enough time.
He said he supports extracurricular activities although he has said that he wants to cut middle school sports.
He said he still thinks we should have closed a middle school, which would have cut middle school sports and clubs in half.
He spoke about things that go on at meetings although he doesn't attend meetings.
He said he won't raise class sizes although he has written that he doesn't mind raising class sizes.
He said he won't cut program but he has written that we should cut music and art.
He said that Special Ed is a burden.
He said he would never vote to pierce the tax cap, which could contradict everything he said about not raising class sizes and cutting program.
He said he would never vote to pierce the cap which shows a complete lack of objectivity.

When in doubt, just lie,or twist the truth,it's one very important tactic of the liberal progressive agenda.

fyi wrote:

Congratulations to Mr. Gellar for knowing the issues--He Created Them!!!
Well versed-Mr. Gellar is a politician. Politician is not what a oommunity needs-politicians play both ends to the middle and the middle gets crushed.
Guess what the crushing played to the middle politics of Mr. Gellar were successful-He succesfully crushed the students of this community.
He did it by playing years of adminstration,union compromise and spending -against high tax increases and voting in budgets filled with empty promises to the community- end result the crushing of over 500 students into 4 ES buildings, beginnings of program loss and a mounting debt to owed back staff increases.
Mr. Montes-not a politician- a community member, willing to step into a situation that would be over the heads of any community member compliments of Mr. Gellars politics. However he is willing to try to do it to represent the students and community members. What the community needs are community members not politicians to represent the needs of the community!
Mr. Zotto's presentation- again a rock and a hard place. He is in a situation where there are no right answers, because to honestly answer public inquiries would mean turning on the present board, it would mean making the community undeniably certain that Mr. Gellar is not the man to represent the community. It would also risk Mr. Gellars 'friends' from little league, associates through the 'summit coalition' and 'business interests' of his VP's on the chamber of commerce getting him voted back into office despite the damage he has done. It potentially means Mr. Zotto having to face another 3 years sitting on a board with a powerful board member whom he would have revealed to be poison.
Mr. O'Connor- Advantage associate of all of the above which is damaging to Mr. Zotto. He is being mentored and trained by the present "BOE BLOCK". He was their choice of candidate last year against Mr. Maginnis (thankfully he lost). He is being brought back in again by Mr. Gellar and all of the above associations to get a seat on the board.
Big, Big, mistake people to let Mr. O'Connor the seat the big "3" have warmed for him.
Mr. Maginnis is an independent who won 'his'way onto the board.His largest representation is Special Education. His biggest concern and what he's brought to the community was truly about children. If Mr. Zotto stays and Mr. Montes joins
there are 3 votes of hope against the shrinking block of control now on the board.
That would be progress for the community. That would finally be the community Not politics.
Mr. Montes and Mr. Zotto to serve the community and stop politics in West Islip.

FYI - that is the BEST summary and explanation of all the players that I have seen. Please post this on the Patch or allow me. This is information that the voters of West Islip should read BEFORE they vote.

Walk the Walk wrote:

<quoted text>
Thanks Wendy as we all know where you stand on your feelings for Gellar we can understand that you are not biased in your views. Here is some things to chew on regarding Montes:
He said he's not worried about his own time although he wrote all year that he doesn't attend meetings because he doesn't have enough time.
He said he supports extracurricular activities although he has said that he wants to cut middle school sports.
He said he still thinks we should have closed a middle school, which would have cut middle school sports and clubs in half.
He spoke about things that go on at meetings although he doesn't attend meetings.
He said he won't raise class sizes although he has written that he doesn't mind raising class sizes.
He said he won't cut program but he has written that we should cut music and art.
He said that Special Ed is a burden.
He said he would never vote to pierce the tax cap, which could contradict everything he said about not raising class sizes and cutting program.
He said he would never vote to pierce the cap which shows a complete lack of objectivity.

Yes, good summary. Montes flip flopped on so any issues last night, it was hard to keep up. But the biggest bombshell of the night when asked about our special education program, was Montes saying that these children were a burden to our system. I really cannot believe he would say such a thing, but heard it myself.

This is not the right guy for education. He obviously knows nothing.

Yes Gellar well spoken like a true scripted politician reading verbatim. That was wondeful to see and that should tell you alot!

Zotto- A guy who speaks from his heart and wants to do what is right for this community and our children. He hasn't lost sight of this and never has throughout the years I have know him and way before being elected to the BOE.

He has been dealing with a vile and corrupt BOE who likes to spin,roll their eyes and just plain disrespect others ,that's clear .

Oconnor nice guy but too close for comfort with the other two or three and will fall right into the fold.

It's time to dismantle one by one.

My Vote: Zotto,Montes.

Heard it as well wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes, good summary. Montes flip flopped on so any issues last night, it was hard to keep up. But the biggest bombshell of the night when asked about our special education program, was Montes saying that these children were a burden to our system. I really cannot believe he would say such a thing, but heard it myself.
This is not the right guy for education. He obviously knows nothing.

I know it's hard to keep up with people who are sincere, he wasn't using any typical, liberal-esk, jargon which some of you are so programed with.

Dr-Remulach wrote:

<quoted text>
Montes' mentor Flanagan is the founder of the CSA was on the board when we sold Southgate. Where Jessica was hanging with the drug dealers and pimps. He was taxpac before he started csa

Are you really so dense that you can't believe that things like this go on?

AGAIN, bad things happen in abandoned buildings. You are naive if you think otherwise. The custodian chases creeps, vandals, and teenagers up to no good out of the Oquenock parking lot in the middle of the night now! Imagine if NO ONE was there to stop it. Would you want to live in one of the surrounding houses? They say they would be policing those buildings but they never policed Southgate. If they did it wouldn't have been full of overgrown grass, broken glass, vandalism, etc.

Masera, unlike Southgate, is being used. They shouldn't sell it. We use the fields daily! And AGAIN, we may need ALL our buildings at some point. The population is not always going to be in decline.

Parents United wrote:

<quoted text>
That was "Debra's" recap of last night. here's a couple of corrections to her untruthful, biased view:
Not only didn't I hear the "quote" you spoke of Montes stating he was going to overturn the triborough agreement, but when I listened to the recording of the evening's event there was no such statement from Montes or any other candidate. Lie much?
Why did Steve Gellar KNOW what the first 8 questions were going to be?
Why was Steve Gellar READING his answers off of paper in front of him?
Yes, Steve Gellar had scripted answers already written down to the 'random' questions. Wow what honesty, what character, what a charade. What a BAD CHOICE for WI's future. Vote out Steve Gellar, we've had enough crooked antics, haven't we?

If you recorded it, then you definately heard it. Hard of hearing much? He absolutey stated his goal would be to overturn the Triborough Amendment. If you want to sit here and state that the Tribourough Amendment was not mentioned last night, then who really is the liar here? You can spin that any way you want it. In the same sentence, he also spoke of pension reform. Furthermore, being prepared does not mean you were privy to the questions. It means you anticipated, you were prepared based on your own assumptions of some of the questions that "might" be asked. I'm sure he had answers to questions that weren't asked as well. Give it a rest. You're just pissed off because your boy Montes clearly showed he is in way over his head and showed his hand early. He wouldn't hesitate to cut programs to avoid piercing the tax cap, he wouldn't hesitate to throw special needs kids under the bus to do the same and he has political motives beyond what the BOE is entrusted to do. Sorry, Glenn nor Zotto will get my vote. It will be Gellar and O'Connor.

Jessica wrote:

<quoted text>
Are you really so dense that you can't believe that things like this go on?
AGAIN, bad things happen in abandoned buildings. You are naive if you think otherwise. The custodian chases creeps, vandals, and teenagers up to no good out of the Oquenock parking lot in the middle of the night now! Imagine if NO ONE was there to stop it. Would you want to live in one of the surrounding houses? They say they would be policing those buildings but they never policed Southgate. If they did it wouldn't have been full of overgrown grass, broken glass, vandalism, etc.
Masera, unlike Southgate, is being used. They shouldn't sell it. We use the fields daily! And AGAIN, we may need ALL our buildings at some point. The population is not always going to be in decline.

Agreed we definitely may need the these buildings in the future. Look at Bells Nursery it was open land and now it has houses with young children. The athletic fields at all of our schools are used every day. We can't possibly sell these schools. We need Westbrook already. Before we know we may need Kirdahy again. These schools are a very valuable asset and resource for our community and our children. If the BOE had managed our finances better, maybe both of the schools would still be open and all our ES would not be packed into classrooms and redistricted all over West Islip.